Olivia Jade Giannulli, daughter of actress Lori Loughlin and designer Mossimo Giannulli, opened up about the infamous college admissions scandal on Red Table Talk on Tuesday.
The influencer explained she wanted to go on Red Table Talk to “publicly share my experience for the first time in a place that feels really safe.”
“Red Table Talk,” is a Facebook Watch show hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield-Jones, and Willow Smith.
A little background on the case
Loughlin and Giannulli had pleaded guilty earlier this year to paying William Rick Singer $500,000 to get their daughters into The University of Southern California.
According to Singer’s website, he is the “CEO and Master Coach of the world’s largest private Life Coaching and College Counseling Company, The Key.”
Giannulli, the designer, is currently serving a five-month sentence at the Federal Correctional Complex Lompoc. Loughlin, the actress, is serving two months at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California.
Opening up about the experience
Olivia Jade opened up about her experiences on Red Table Talk, stating that “It’s been hard, for anybody no matter what the situation is you don’t want to see your parents go to prison but also I think it’s necessary for us to move on and move forward.”
She continued by saying what is most important is that she has grown and since learned from the mistake.
“I think what’s so important to me is to learn from the mistake. Not to be shamed and punished and never given a second chance… I’m 21. I feel like I deserve a second chance to redeem myself to show I’ve grown,” the beauty influencer said.
She has not been in contact with her parents due to the current pandemic according to CNN.
Olivia Jade acknowledged her privilege regarding the case. She was not aware that paying a college recruiter was not the normal process for other students her age. She also explained her parents’ actions from her point of view.
“I think what a lot of people don’t know is that my parents just came from a place of, ‘I love my kids, I just want to help my kids. Whatever is best for them,’
Jade admits that she had good grades in high school, she knew that her grades alone would not get her into USC.
“I think I put a lot of trust into a person that claimed their profession was college counseling and it led me in the wrong direction. It’s not to shift blame it’s just to explain that I wasn’t aware of what was going on.”
On why she decided to share her experiences, Jade explained, “I didn’t come on here to try and win people over…I just want to apologize for contributing to these social inequalities, even though I didn’t realize it at the time.”
In light of this, Jade has revealed she plans on working with inner-city youth and work with underprivileged kids in the near future.
